Pink Floyd

Released: November 17, 1974

Songwriter: Roger Waters

[Verse 1: David Gilmour]
Gotta be crazy, you gotta be mean
Gotta keep your shoes and your car clean
Gotta keep smiling, you gotta keep fit
You gotta keep drinking, you gotta eat shit
You gotta be small to be a big shot
Gotta eat meat to stay at the top
You gotta be trusted, you gotta tell lies
Gotta be able to narrow your eyes
You gotta believe they gotta believe you
Gotta appear easy to see through
Gotta be sure you look good on TV
Gotta resemble a human being
You gotta keep one eye over your shoulder
Gonna get harder as you get older
Gotta fly south and hide in the sand
Gotta forget that you're gonna get cancer

[David Gilmour's scat singing]

[Verse 2: Roger Waters] (David Gilmour Harmonies)
And when you lose control
You'll reap the harvest you have sown
And as the fear grows
The bad blood slows and turns to stone
And it's too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around
So have a good drown as you go down
All alone
Dragged down by the stone

[Verse 3: David Gilmour]
You've gotta be sure, you gotta be quick
Gotta divide the tame from the sick
Gotta keep all of us docile and fit
Gotta keep everyone buying this shit
They gotta get you started early
Processed by the time you're thirty
You work like fuck until you're sixty-five
And time's your own until you die
Gotta admit to a lot of confusion
Pain in the head is the child of collusion
Gotta resist this creeping malaise
Gotta believe in the way you get out of the maze
But you, you just keep on pretending
You can tell a sucker from a friend
But you still raise the knife
Stranger, lover, friend and foe alike

[Verse 4: Roger Waters] (David Gilmour and Rick Wright backup)
Who was born in a house full of pain
Born in a house full of pain
Who was sent out to play on his own
Sent out to play on his own
Who was raised on a diet of shame
Raised on a diet of shame
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with bridle and bit
Fitted with bridle and bit
Who was given a seat in the stand
Given a seat in the stand
Who was forcing his way to the rail
Forcing his way to the rail
Who was offered a place on the board
Offered a place on the board
Who was only a stranger at home
Only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone
Dragged down by the stone

Pink Floyd was a British rock band who managed to carve a path for progressive and psychedelic music in a way that was uniquely fascinating at the time and has remained equally momentous in the modern age. The name “Pink Floyd” came from two blues musicians that founding member Syd Barrett idolized—Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

The band was formed in 1965 London by Barrett (guitars, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass), and Richard Wright (keyboards). Sometime after releasing their debut album, 1967’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the group saw the addition of a second singer-guitarist, David Gilmour. This acted largely as a means of replacing Barrett, who was forced to leave in 1968 for mental health reasons, resulting in Waters taking over as the main vocalist.

The band broke into the mainstream with 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, an album that became one of the best-selling and most influential records in music history. Their follow-up efforts, 1975’s Wish You Were Here and 1977’s Animals, also sold well. However, the band started to see some in-fighting while making their next album, a rock opera about how Waters felt frustrated and detached from his audience. Waters seemingly became extremely controlling, firing Wright over disputes about touring and his contributions to the album. The result, 1979’s The Wall, became the best-selling double album of all time. It spawned iconic songs such as the #1 hit, “Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2,” and the melodic “Comfortably Numb.”

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